Auckland – The All Blacks have topped a list of the greatest chokers in sport, beating the likes of golfer Greg Norman and the Proteas cricket team.
According to the NZ Herald website, the 1999 All Blacks, a team that were shocked by France in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, finished number one in the Times Online’s 40 greatest chokers in sport.
The All Blacks led 24-10 at one stage before France out-scored New Zealand 33-7 to stun the tournament favourites 43-31.
The 2007 All Blacks also featured on the list. The side which lost to France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals finished 20th on the list.
The 1999 All Blacks beat out the 1999 South African cricket team in second place, a team which missed out on the Cricket World Cup final after botching their semi-final tie with Australia, followed by Greg Norman who infamously threw away a six stroke lead going into the final round of the 1996 Masters.
Sprinter Asafa Powell and 1989 Masters choker Scott Hoch rounded out the top five.
Times Online writer Patrick Kidd, who compiled the list, said the All Blacks could have featured on the list more than twice.
“It may be cruel to include the All Blacks twice in this list, but has self-belief and potential ever exploded so often, so predictably?,” he wrote.
“As well as 1999 and 2007, we could include the World Cups in 1995 World Cup (damn that food poisoning), 1991 (two moments of brilliance by David Campese upset the tournament’s best side in the semi-finals) or 2003 (averaged 62 points per game until the semi-final then blew it against Australia). How will they self-destruct on home soil in 2011?”
British individuals Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, Tim Henman and Paula Radcliffe also made the list.
The 40 greatest chokers in sport:
40: Andy Murray, 2010
39: Barcelona, 1986
38: Lewis Hamilton, 2007
37: England rugby union team, 1991
36: Bernhard Langer, 1991
35: Alex Bogdanovic, take your pick
34: Frank Bruno, 1996
33: England cricket team, 1987
32: David Bedford, 1971
31: Tony Romo, 2007
30: New York Yankees, 2004
29: Europe Ryder Cup team, 1999
28: Roberto Duran, 1980
27: England cricket team, 2006
26: Tim Henman, 2001
25: Paula Radcliffe, 2000
24: Gareth Southgate, 1996
23: Devon Loch, 1956
22: England football team, 1970
21: Jana Novotna, 1993
20: New Zealand rugby team, 2007
19: England football team, 2010
18: Gavin Hastings, 1991
17: Newcastle United, 1995-96
16: Scott Norwood, 1991
15: Colin Montgomerie, 2006
14: Jimmy White, 1992
13: Chris Waddle, 1990
12: Dustin Johnson, 2010
11: Don Fox, 1968
10: Houston Oilers, 1993
9: Doug Sanders, 1970
8: Guillermo Coria, 2004
7: Somerset cricket team, 2010
6: Jean van der Velde, 1999
5: Scott Hoch, 1989
4: Asafa Powell, 2007
3: Greg Norman, 1996
2: South Africa cricket team, 1999
1: New Zealand rugby team, 1999
Damn these All Blacks, we can’t even win on a list of the greatest chokers.
Always the brides maid, and never the bride.
yawn..
its amazing how the world over loves to label the ABs, this article was from the times I believe…
and is a true reflection of the state of mind of every supporter, journalist and rugby enthusiast who likes to label the ABs chokers..
semms they realise their team has NO HOPE IN HELL of beating the ABs, so are now one year from the tournament HOPING BEYOND BELIEF that the ABs “choke” again..
so much for having faith in your own team…
beginning to turn me off rugby altogether… seems TEST RUGBY has gone by the wayside, and now we only judge teams by their performance once every four years in a knockout tournament, where one simple bounce of the ball can ruin four years of hard work..
we allow the mediocrity of “building for the WC” to explain away losses these days…
still, I much prefer my teams ethos of trying to win every game they play…
shame the rest of the world doesnt have this attitude, what with sending reserve teams etc on tours..
so if this current AB side happen to go on and beat the consecutive record for test wins, yet get knocked out in the 1/4s or 1/2s next year… they too will be labelled chokers..
what a joke…
@ nga puhi:
Oh, come on my good sir. You know the whole world is envious of your international record. If you asked 100 Springbok supporters whether they prefer to win the RWC once every 12 years and have a 65% win record during that time, or whether they are happy with winning the RWc once in a blue moon, but have a 75% win record and are on par with the all Blacks they will all vote for the latter.
We get the same in ODI cricket, Chokers, Chokers. They even call our test side chokers after we have only lost one test series in the last 12.
Fancy that.
@ nga puhi:Howzit Nga, Don’t worry about the choker thing. I know if I was a AB supporter I would not worry.
Actually I would rather the Boks beat the ABs and Wallabies more in the Tri-Nations than win another cup or two in the world cup. Consistency with the ABs winning is far more respected. My feeling and would like the Boks to rather win more tests than just put all their effort into one tourney every 4 years by winning the wc.
ABs are doing great mate, you can be proud if their winning ratio. Wish the Boks could win more tests.
Just look at our cricket team. They win plenty but never the world cup. For me I like it just like that. Rather see them win more than only just win the world cup. Don’t get me wrong, winning the world cup is great, but really it is not everything and certainly winning more tests are by far better. ABs are doing great.
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